MANILA, Philippines - The peso exchange rate closed higher at P42.955 to the US dollar yesterday at the Philippine Dealing & Exchange Corp. (PDEx) from P43.06 the previous day. The weighted average rate depreciated to P43.050 from P43.049. Total volume amounted to $932.76 million.
Rating Upgrade: 'sooner not later'
The Philippines is likely to obtain a credit rating upgrade "sooner rather than later," Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima said yesterday.
"I'm confident that they (credit-rating firms) will adjust their ratings sooner rather than later," Purisima said at a forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines.
He also said finance officials had recently met with representatives from Standard and Poor's Rating Services. S&P in December upgraded its outlook on the Philippines' double-B sovereign credit rating to positive from stable.
A.L.I. issuing P15B in bonds
Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) plans to sell P15-billion bonds to individual investors in April to help fund capital spending, which will rise to a record P37 billion this year from P29.9 billion in 2011, Company President Antonino Aquino said.
ALI's net profit climbed 31 percent to a record P7.14 billion last year, fueled by residential sales and rents at its shopping malls and office buildings. The company is "well on the way" to make an annual profit of P10 billion by 2014, Aquino said in January.
L.R.T. 1 Cavite Extension Ok'd
A P60-billion extension to Cavite of the Light Rail Transit Line 1, the first electric train system to ply the capital, has been given the green light by President Benigno Aquino, Transportation and Communications Secretary Manuel Roxas said. After completing his presentation of the project to the board of the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).
Roxas announced via his Twitter account that the 12-kilometer extension had been approved. The upcoming project will extend Line 1 to several towns in the neighboring province of Cavite and accommodate an additional 40,000 passengers daily. Among those interested in bidding for the project are listed conglomerates San Miguel Corp and Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (Dow Jones)
March Inflation Is Seen Higher
Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Amando M. Tetangco Jr. yesterday said inflation rate for March could be higher than 2.7 percent in February because of the rising global prices of fuel and local currency volatility. (LCC)
